March 3, 2010

Covers? Covers!

As a trainspotting effort of sorts (or something), Brother Ib of the esteemed Sibling Shot On The Bleachers and yers truly conspired to throw out some cover versions of toonage that are superior to the originals. Being the anti-dogmatic reprobates that genetics deemed, he threw out one and I am trowing out far less than the ten we targeted.

More importantly: WHAT ARE YOURS???????

Do You Wanna Dance - Ramones -- Bobby Freeman:
The Ramones only wanted to be a top 40 band. Was that so much to ask for? You can tell the Joey songs pretty easily from the Dee Dee songs. The Joey songs were about love. And Joey picked the covers. This one blew the roof off of the original early 60's hit.



Police And Thieves - The Clash -- Junior Murvin:
White reggae at it's finest. Though Strummer would reference the original and tell people to go out and listen to it.





My Way - Sid Vicious -- Paul Frank Sinatra: Covered more famously by Frank Sinatra perhaps, but Sid's version is the standard. "To think, I killed a cat" Genius. Plus Scorcese used Sid's version at the end of Goodfellas!




12XU - Minor Threat -- Wire: Sure, Wire's version is an old school classic, but for sheer energy and THE RAWK, you can't beat Minor Threat.



12 comments:

ib said...

Nazz, baby.

I just knew you would get the drop on me. Good selections all, how could one possibly argue ?

The Clash and Murvin score a tie. Why do I always wanna spell that with a 'Y' ? As in Murv'y'n ? I have no idea.

The Ramones and Bobby Freeman is easy. Da Bruddas every time.

Sid and Francis. A difficult call, admittedly, but I err. I err.

And. I had no f@ckin' idea that Minor Threat had covered Wire. None at all. But how can you improve on that weedy, spiky original threat ?

Rawk be damned.

Your driver said...

Believe it or not, I knew the Junior Murvin version before I heard it by The Clashes. I love The Clashes but when they did Reggae and Hip Hop I can only give them points for trying. 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais' and 'Bank Robber' being exceptions to that rule. Junior Murvin's 'Police and Thieves' along with The Clashes 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais' are two of my favorite songs ever.

I agree with the rest of your choices. The Ramones along with Hypstz were the greatest cover bands in history. I usually like their covers better than the originals.

Denier said...

Dude, I just left my top 10 or so Punk covers a second ago over at ib's before I even knew you were posting yours. Turns out we picked a lot of the same ones, which doesn't shock me as we tend to think alike in these matters -- except for your obvious lack of taste when it comes to Avengers heroines. Wonder where ib would come down in the debate?

roc said...

Wire recorded some louder/faster versions of 12XU perhaps inspired by Hardcore and Minor Threat's cover.

Daddyo said...

The Violent Femmes did a version of "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" that I love. They pumped a lot more angst into it and changed the lyrics a bit (with Culture Club's OK, from what I understand) and made it a much better song.

Paticus said...

Lords Of The New Church's version of "Like A Virgin"!

welfare cheat said...

How about these:
-Husker Du "Love is all around"
-Circle Jerks "Put a little love in your heart"
-Johnny Thunders "Eve of destruction"
-Pixies "Head On"
-Clash "I fought the law"

gomonkeygo said...

I want 12XU played at my funeral. It's been at the top of the list of "Songs to Celebrate My Life & Party to While Mourning My Passing" since I first heard it.

Nazz Nomad said...

the husker du mary tyler moore tribute (written by the same guy who wrote I Fought The Law!)is a classic for sure.
Two great KISS covers are Redd Kross doing Deuce and The Replacements covering Black Diamond.

Plantagenet said...

I like it when my Granny sings "whole Lotta Love." Sadly, she usually passes out trying to do the guitar parts. She's old, you know.

Your driver said...

I was hoping to sneak in the Husker Du version of "Love Is All Around" before someone mentioned it.
Damn.

Punkzer0 said...

Great set of covers, I love them when there done well. I'll still never forget the day I first played Sids My Way. At the beginning I thought "what the fuck is this" and then that guitar kicks in - classic.

Nobody can beat Wire as far as I'm concered, but then I am a little biased as there still one of my top ten bands.